Fourth Sunday of Easter
John 10:22-30; Acts 9:36-43; Revelation 7:9-17
The story begins some 160 years before the birth of Jesus, give or take 5 years. What we know is that around the year 165 BC the Syrian ruler Antiochus IV Ephiphanes marched south from Syria into the provinces of Judea with plans to impose the Greek religion on the Jews. Antiochus succeeded in conquering the city of Jerusalem and the temple mount. He proceeded to entered the Holy Temple where he desecrate the high altar by sacrificing a pig to the Greek gods. Judas Maccabaeus, the son of an aged priest who had taken to the mountains in rebellion, rallied the ragged troops from the country side and even though out numbered succeeded in battle after battle against the Syrian forces. Judas Maccabaeus was believed by many of his day to be the long promised messiah or savior of the people. After three years of fighting, the army of Judas Maccabaeus succeeded in retaking Jerusalem and the Temple mount. Then in an act of holy dedication, Judas Maccabaeus led the people in a rite of purification of the Temple of Jerusalem. As the story would later be told, they only had enough purified oil to kindle the temple light for one day, yet miraculously the candle burned for 8 days.
Thus the observance of the festival of lights or feast of dedication known today as Hanukkah originated And the symbol of that feast became the menorah, the candlestick with one candle for each of the 8 nights the candles burned in the temple and a ninth candle designated as the servant candle by which all the other candles receive their light. Jump forward in time almost two centuries. It is winter and the festival of the dedication or Hanukkah was again being observed. Jesus is walking in the newly reconstructed and renovated temple in Jerusalem, passing through the enclosed portion of the temple known as the portico of Solomon, a walled portico providing shelter from the cold eastern winds that blew steadily at that time of the year. While the Jewish religion was now freely exercised in the temple, the country was occupied by a foreign army and all the leaders including priests were hand picked for their loyalty to the goals and objectives of the Roman Empire. Many were talking about the possibility of a new messiah, someone like Judas Maccabaeus, to lead the people once more to freedom and new life, greater faith and prosperity.
It appears that by this time, Jesus' reputation as a preacher, teacher and miracle worker has preceded him. There might well have been many in Jerusalem who had heard his carefully worded stories or parables hinting at glimpses of the kingdom he desired to become the norm for people. They had heard him preach in figures and images grounded in the every day objects of daily life. Stories of lost sheep, growing seeds, even good Samaritans. They had begun to wonder what his intentions were when he came to the capital city of Jerusalem. Judas Maccabaeus had been nicknamed "The Hammer". This Jesus had spoken of himself as "the door", "the vine", "bread of life", and now "the good shepherd." They remembered that the great King David had originally been a shepherd and was sometimes even remembered as the "shepherd king". They also remembered that it was King David, the shepherd king, who also was first mentioned in scripture as God's anointed, the messiah. The prophets had spoken time and again of the promise that God would again someday raise up a new messiah who would restore God's kingdom among His people. And hadn't this Jesus begun his preaching in Galilee with the words, "The Kingdom of God is at hand"? So it was that during the feast of the Dedication, Jesus is met by a group of men who ask the obvious question, at least obvious to them. "Let's stop wasting everybody's time," they said. "Are you or are you not the Messiah we are waiting for?" It is the kind of question that we can understand. The straight forward question that we yearn to hear asked our politicians. Are you or are you not running for President of the United States? Only the answer to this question asked of Jesus does not mean he is up for election but rather, depending on his answer, he could face charges of treason or blasphemy, both offenses that could lead to his death. The question was not rooted so much in finding out who Jesus really was as much as it reflected who they wanted him to be? Times have not changed all that much. There are many who identify Jesus as the source of their political, social, environmental or economic positions in so far as he under girds their professed values and priorities. It is not easy to be open to answers that may be different from what we want to hear. I remember well the time someone said to me, "Don't confuse me with the Bible, my faith is made up!"
Are you or are you not the messiah? This simple question is very much at the core of John's gospel. Ten chapters later the author of the gospel of John will point blank state that "These are written so that you may come to believe that Jesus is the Messiah" (20:31). For John and for us, one definition of being a Christian is to believe that Jesus is the Messiah. But in the first century this confession would also risk exclusion from the synagogue and carry with it social and political risks. We live in a very different world. And yet the question of who Jesus is and what we believe about him lies at the center of our faith. We are not immune from seeking the simple answers. Concerning Jesus and our faith, we have our questions. Questions about faith and the world we live in. What about abortion, same sex unions, ending poverty? What about stopping the spread of AIDS, resolving the conflict between Israel and Palestine, rebuilding Iraq, and the list goes on. We want simple quick answers but we are haunted by the old saying, "For every complex problem there is a simple solution...and it's wrong."
The answer to the question is not a matter of saying the right words or the correct confession. This is the important truth that Jesus points to in his response to the "messiah question". He basically said, You are going to believe what you want to believe about what I say, but look at my works. "The works that I do in my Father's name testify to me." We all know the old adage, "Actions speak louder than words" but in our modern age of media spin and sound bites what we believe is usually based more on who made the final news rotation and got the final word. Our age of information has little time for actions and deeds, they are just not special enough. Each week in our faith community and around the world there are thousands of volunteer hours spent serving the homeless, feeding the hungry, visiting the sick, comforting the lost, teaching the faith and none of these deeds are ever mentioned, filmed, photographed or profiled unless something truly unusual or wrong occurs. We rarely remember all the good that is done in the name of Jesus.
The fact is that no one is very likely to ever ask any of us, "Are you the messiah?" It is possible, however, that on various occasions someone will ask, "Are you a Christian?" They might even ask, "Are you Lutheran?" And the answer? Brian Stoffregen tells of a short story entitled "Whom Should You Ask? in which an Amish man was once asked by an enthusiastic young evangelist whether he had been saved, and whether he had accepted Jesus Christ as his Lord and Savior? The Amish gentleman replied, "Why do you ask me such a thing? I could tell you anything. Here are the names of my banker, my grocer, and my farm hands. Ask them if I've been saved." We know too well, that anyone can say just about any thing about themselves. When Mohammed Ali said "I am the greatest" it meant nothing until he could prove it in the boxing ring. We all know of married couples who claim to love each other but behave toward each other in ways that cause us to wonder. Or there are the parents who declare themselves committed to their child's well-being but, well, if their actions reflect concern I would hate to see neglect. To say "I am a Christian" or "I am Lutheran" is only a collection of words. To even say, I believe means nothing until that faith is acted on. That is what Jesus meant when he not only pointed to what he had done, but also identified those who followed him, followed him, he said, like his sheep.
Which brings us back to the quest for a straight answer and the use of metaphor. I always have trouble on this fourth Sunday of Easter because it is known as Good Shepherd Sunday. The Good Shepheerd is a great metaphor for Jesus in the Christian tradition. There are some great pictures and sculptures of Jesus as the Good Shepherd, when I was growing up I even had a glow in the dark statue of Jesus as the Good Shepherd that stood on my dresser, and I have always liked the 23 rd Psalm image of the Lord as our Shepherd. But I also have to tell you that a part of me identifies with those who confronted Jesus with their desire for a straight and plain answer. I have never really known any one that I would call a shepherd. Sheep are not a part of my daily life. I do have a niece who raises state champion sheep but she would be the first to tell you that sheep are not an animal to be imitated. When Jesus says, "you do not believe, because you do not belong to my sheep" I want to quickly say, do not push this metaphor any further. I have heard and read whole sermons on how we humans are like sheep and I can assure you that all these sermons did was convince me all the more that this is a metaphor we do not want to pursue.
When Jesus called himself the good shepherd what he was striving to do was help people understand who HE was. He took attributes of a good shepherd and claimed them for himself. A strong protector of the weak, a leader for those who follow, a healer of the injured, a seeker of the lost. It was not his intention that we strive to be good sheep to his good shepherd. Sheep are some of the dumbest animals there are. They are skittish, environmentally dangerous, totally self absorbed with no awareness of the world around them. They are generally uncaring about any other sheep. Jesus did not intend that we be sheep to his good shepherd. If anything, he invited us to follow his example of shepherding. If he could seek the lost, then so will those who follow him. If he healed, fed and protected people then so will those who follow him. The question was asked simply but the answer is not to be found in words. The answer is in what was done which the Gospel of John found a way to state amazingly simply. We know it as John 3:16 "For God so loved that world that he gave his only son that who ever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life." That is the simple Gospel truth and answer that we are to proclaim. And how are to proclaim it. Saint Francis of Assisi may have said it best, "Preach the Gospel always, when necessary use words."
Amen